This application is an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,175, assigned to the assignee of the instant application. Disposable garments are generally well known in the art and have become an important and an essentially indispensable sanitary protection item, most particularly in the field of infant and child care where disposable diapers provide for the absorption and containment of urine and other bodily exudates. Present commercially available disposable diapers are generally unitary, preshaped and prefolded, and comprised of a porous facing layer and a fluid impervious backing sheet with an absorbent material disposed therebetween. These presently available disposable diapers have met a particular need and have become ever increasingly popular. However, even though the present available disposable diapers have achieved a certain degree of efficiency and effectiveness, several draw-backs remain that have been identified by mothers of infants wearing the diapers. These mothers have strongly voiced their desire to be able to obtain disposable diapers that are aesthetically neat and attractive when on their infant or child. The aesthetically neat criteria have been identified as including a trim, slim fit, and a neat fitting waist and legs that do not allow leakage of urine or feces. It has also been found that mothers do not want their children looking rumpled, bulky or messy. In addition, these mothers have expressed the desire to either have a disposable diaper that fits more sizes of babies or to have disposable diapers provided in more sizes.
The typical disposable diaper has a three-layer composite structure comprising a liquid permeable bodyside inner liner, a liquid impermeable outer cover and an absorbent batt sandwiched between the liner and the cover. Materials now in general use for the three principal elements of a disposable diaper include various types of nonwoven fabrics for the bodyside liner, a thin thermoplastic film for the outer cover and cellulosic fluff for the absorbent batt. Examples of present disposable diapers are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,245 to Mesek, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,874 to Hrubecky, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,462 to Woon, et al.
Other prior art diaper constructions, disclosed in the references listed below, have sought to provide waste containment with a reusable diaper holder receiving an absorbent structure, to-wit:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,064 to Pociluyko and U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,590 to Hokanson, et al.;
2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,128 to Motomura;
3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,141,105 to Eller;
4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,646 to Daniels, et al.;
5. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,597,761, 4,496,360 and 4,597,760.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,464 to Korpman, discloses an elastic fluid impermeable backing film laminated to an absorbent layer to ostensibly provide enhanced conformability to the body surface.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,355,425 to Jones, et al. and 3,644,157 to Draper disclose disposable stretchable nonwoven panties containing small crotch pads unsuitable for absorbing and containing body wastes.
Even where prior art designs have attempted to use impermeable elastic film barriers, there has been inadequate recognition of the functional problems associated with an elastic outer cover. Further, costly woven diaper holders or overpants, designed to be waterproof and reusable, do not offer disposability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,199 to Birring discloses an elastic brief for use with a conventional disposable diaper. The brief is provided with front and rear crocheted elastic pieces which exert increased pressure along the sides of the underlying diaper to ostensibly hold it in place and seal the edges of the diaper against the body. The crocheting of the brief, to which the diaper is not physically attached, is looser in a central area in the front and back pieces to concentrate greater tension along the sides of the diaper at the legs and waist. This increased stress along the sides can lead to undesirable pinching by the garment at the legs and waist openings, leaving red marks and abrasions on the skin.
British patent application No. 2,185,383, published July 22, 1987discloses an integral unitary disposable diaper having elasticized leg openings and fastening tapes with a tapered user's end, ostensibly for wearer comfort and easier handling during application thereof. The use of an elastomeric outer diaper cover is not disclosed in this document.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,175, assigned to the instant assignee, discloses a form-fitting, self-adjusting disposable garment comprising an elastomeric nonwoven outer cover having an absorbent insert structure attached and integrated thereinto.
Although the above-mentioned prior art garments are provided with elasticized leg and/or waist openings, there is still a tendency for the garment to blouse outwardly from the body at the hip and abdominal regions and to sag downwardly in the abdominal region. There is also a further tendency for tensile stresses to concentrate undesirably along the leg and waist openings of the garment. Thus, there remains a need for an anatomically form-fitting, generally self-adjusting disposable garment which provides additional support to keep the garment from sagging at the waist and drooping at the lower abdomen.